Migraine-attributed burden, impact and disability, and migraine-impacted quality of life: Expert consensus on definitions from a Delphi process
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Background: Migraine-attributed burden, impact, disability and migraine-impacted quality of life are important concepts in clinical management, clinical and epidemiological research, and health policy, requiring clear and agreed definitions. We aimed to formulate concise and precise definitions of these concepts by expert consensus. Methods: We searched the terms migraine-attributed burden, impact, disability and migraine-impacted quality of life in Embase and Medline from 1974 and 1946 respectively. We followed a Delphi process to reach consensus on definitions. Results: We found widespread conflation of concepts and inconsistent terminology within publications. Following three Delphi rounds, we defined migraine-attributed burden as “the summation of all negative consequences of the disease or its diagnosis”; migraine-attributed impact as “the effect of the disease, or its diagnosis, on a specified aspect of life, health or wellbeing”; migraine-attributed disability as “physical, cognitive and mental incapacities imposed by the disease”; and migraine-impacted quality of life as “the subjective assessment by a person with the disease of their general wellbeing, position and prospects in life”. We complemented each definition with a detailed description. Conclusion: These definitions and descriptions should foster consistency and encourage more appropriate use of currently available quantifying instruments and aid the future development of others.
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The physical, social, and mental burden of headaches is substantial.
“The physical, social, and mental burden of headaches, defined as the summation of all negative consequences [3], is substantial.”
From Development and Evaluation of a Smartphone-Based Chatbot Coach to Facilitate a Balanced Lifestyle in Individuals With Headaches (BalanceUP App): Randomized Controlled Trial (2024) · cites this paper as [3]
The Results (Table 1) define migraine-attributed burden as the summation of all negative consequences of the disease or its diagnosis, directly supporting the cited definition. The source addresses migraine specifically, however, rather than establishing the substantial physical, social, and mental burden of headaches generally. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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“The physical, social, and mental burden of headaches, defined as the summation of all negative consequences [3], is substantial.”
Self-citation
- Authors
- Steiner, T. J., Terwindt, G. M., Katsarava, Z., Pozo-Rosich, P., Gantenbein, A. R., Roche, S. L., Dell’Agnello, G., & Tassorelli, C.
- Affiliations
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- Leiden University Medical Center (NL)
- Georgian National Museum (GE)
- Headache Unit, Neurology Department, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona, Spain
- University Hospital Zurich (CH)
- Eli Lilly (Ireland) (IE)
- Eli Lilly (Italy) (IT)
- University of Pavia (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Dell’Agnello, Grazia
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cephalalgia
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2022-07-05
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 1387-1396
- ISSN
- 0333-1024 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-2982
- PMC
- PMC9638708
- OpenAlex
- W4283825975
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 6
- FWCI
- 5.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cephalalgia (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
- Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Eli Lilly and Company
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Migraine and Headache Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Delphi Technique in Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Keywords
- migraine, definitions, terminology, Delphi consensus, health-related quality of life, disability
- MeSH terms
- Delphi Technique, Humans, Migraine Disorders, Quality of Life, Consensus
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